The abolitionist and women's rights advocate Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree) was freed from slavery in 1827 by the New York Gradual Abolition Act. This speech of hers was delivered in 1853 at a Woman's Rights Convention at the Broadway Tabernacle in New York. She rebuked the men who did not support their mothers' and wives' struggles, while encouraging women to persist in the fight for rights.